Conventus - New Jersey Medical Professional Liability Insurance Company Defending Good Medicine Against Medical Malpractice

Conventus Inter-Insurance Exchange Announces New President
(Woodbridge, NJ) July 28, 2005 – NIP Management Company, Attorney-in-Fact for Conventus Inter-Insurance Exchange, is pleased to announce that John R. Karlen, CPCU, ARe, APA, has joined the Conventus management team as President. With over 30 years of property and casualty insurance experience, Mr. Karlen is a seasoned executive with a broad range of managerial and technical talents. Conventus is the only medical professional liability insurer in New Jersey that is both owned and governed by physicians.

“After an extensive nationwide search, we are thrilled to have found an executive of John Karlen’s talent and expertise to lead the Conventus management team,” said Richard Augustyn, President and CEO of NIP Group, Inc. “John is a proven executive with deep and well-rounded experience, and he is a strong believer in the physician owned and directed model for medical professional liability insurance.”

Mr. Karlen comes to Conventus from Physicians Insurance Company in Seattle, WA, a physician owned and directed company and Washington state's largest medical liability insurer. He spent the last 16 years at Physicians, rising to the position of Vice President of Product & Services Development and Administration. Reporting directly to the CEO, he had executive leadership responsibilities that included acting as liaison to the Board of Directors for Underwriting and Product Development, serving as the company representative to the PIAA (Physician Insurers Association of America) and serving as Chair of the PIAA Underwriting Committee.

“I am very excited to be joining the Conventus team at a time when the company is well-positioned to serve large numbers of New Jersey physicians,” Mr. Karlen said. “I look forward to dedicating myself to helping Conventus fulfill its mission of providing New Jersey physicians with stable, affordable medical professional liability insurance by stressing prudent underwriting practices and patient safety.”

Over his career, Mr. Karlen has held most of the functional positions within a physician owned and governed company. In addition, he has an outstanding track record of achieving and exceeding underwriting, servicing and corporate objectives. He also developed strong expertise in the reinsurance arena and worked closely with domestic and foreign reinsurers.

Mr. Karlen has spoken on a wide range of topics within the medical professional liability industry, and has earned the designations of CPCU, ARe and APA. You can contact John Karlen at 800-446-7647 ext. 275 or via email jkarlen@nipgroup.com.

About Conventus Inter-Insurance Exchange
Conventus Inter-Insurance Exchange is a not-for-profit, non-assessable reciprocal insurance exchange providing medical professional liability insurance in New Jersey. Conventus is the only company in the state that is both owned and governed by its members, but is managed by experts in the property and casualty insurance industry. The management team at NIP Management Company, the Exchange’s Attorney-in-Fact, has extensive experience in medical professional liability insurance and in managing underwriting results for companies like Conventus.